Is it cheeky to ask to be paid over the holidays?

[Dogswimmingcompetition]

I work as a tutor. I work for three different families.
Over the summer holidays, one family like me to keep working, one family don’t have tutoring at all over the summer, but pay me year round. The final family is the family I work with the most, I’ve taught their child for almost three years. For the first year it was year round, last year they went away last minute for summer (I didn’t realise this was the plan) and I wasn’t paid all summer. I get the majority of my income from them and found it a real struggle for a couple of months.
Their child finishes their exams in a couple of weeks and mentioned something about our last lesson being in a couple of weeks (much earlier than I expected) This will leave me without pay for 3 months, which will set me back a lot.
I’m unable to commit to other families who have asked for tutoring as they would want all the time, not just in the holidays.
Would it be cheeky to put this to the father and ask if there’s any way they can pay me over the holidays and explain the situation?
I enjoy working with this family and would rather stay with them if possible, I know that i’m valued there also as the mum has told me in the past that they’re keen to keep me/continue with me.

They are taking you for granted.

They're not taking her for granted - she's doing casual work for them as a tutor with no contract in place. They're entitled to cancel at short notice or stop using her altogether whenever they like.

You’re freelance. You don’t get paid when you don’t work. I understand that this is tough but I’m surprised you didn’t think of this before going in to tutoring. It’s the nature of it, surely.

I’ve employed tutors at various times and if any of them asked to be paid to do nothing, I’d politely decline.

I’m saying this with kindness, but I think you need a more robust and professional contract to outline all of this from the start. You can then either charge more per session so that you cover yourself over a “dip” in the summer OR you can charge a retainer fee for the summer sessions. Clients will then know up front what the expectation is.

😂You've spectacularly missed my point. You don't know how how to use a basic form of punctuation; you use it incorrectly to demarcate a very common plural (GCSEs). It's not about the specific qualification, but the lack of comprehension more generally.

Except the PP was incorrect.

Its quite common for service providers to require retainers during prolonged breaks taken by clients who then expect your availability on their return. That isn’t a “perk” its providing a guarantee of availability in return for a fee. Clients who don’t want to pay a retainer don’t get to assume access to the service on their return.

Never seen that with tutors and I'm in tutor land here with grammars and selective schools galore.

Have you seen this in place with tutors (unless they're working on a 1-2-1) I certainly never have?

You need to draw up contracts. Bizarre to assume you would be paid year round as a tutor. With no contract in place, of course they can drop you when it suits. It also means you are free to drop them in favour of a family who will honor the new contract you are going to draw up, if you wish to.
If you don't want to draw up a contract like this, you need increase your fees and budget for void periods.

Yes where parents wanted the tutor to be available in September (as we are really talking about the Summer hols). Either they charge a retainer through non teaching periods or they charge a higher rate per hour during term time. (Tutors are excessively in demand around here as well).

Sorry re 1:2:1 - that is the standard model around here. Sometimes tutors will take children in pairs but individual is commoner. I’m talking about private tutoring of regular school subjects rather than elective subjects outside of school.

Well most people I know have only had tutoring of a couple or few subjects by tutors who have a range of other kids they're tutoring too.

I can't believe that so many people have tutoring for many or all subjects nowadays!! Goodness.

OP, I can't see that you have answered the contract question, so maybe you don't have one, or you do and it doesn't cover everything.

Either way, you now need to have a contract with each client, that specifies payment terms, what happens in holidays, sickness (on both sides) etc. If you want a retainer over the summer holidays, then you put that in the contract. This is the only way that you can hold somebody to payment if they don't pay you.

Otherwise, as a self employed person, you will have to accept that for several weeks of the year, you won't have any other work, or you will have to find seasonal work to cover those gaps.

My Tutor client has watertight contracts with her clients. She also does exam invigilating to earn extra money . Not many people want lessons all year round.

from the new term start you need a standardised contract with a cancellation notice period OP.

if she is able to decide as and when you need a buffer for this sort of instability. especially as it seems its a pretty regular occurrence.

unfortunately it’s on you if you haven’t been crystal clear re your terms of engagement. Qi pay a lot out re different classes and don’t have a formal contract as such but have very clear dates and notice periods.

My daughter’s music is term time only and very clear re term dates and policies re missed lessons.

We use an online tutor club which has a 45 week term so slightly longer than term time only. The dates are clearly set. If I can’t make them, it’s my problem. I’m not sure I’d use a tutor expecting 52 weeks of the year as I think kids need a break from learning.

Which exams?

It’s cheeky to ask for paid holidays but I would be asking for upfront payment and not refunding it all if someone cancelled last minute:
.

I‘m sure others have had similar, but you need a standard contract for all clients. Mine, when self-employed, covered

• a high hourly rate which also covered social security contributions, 10% extra for holiday pay, 5% for sickness pay and extra on top of all that as had to buy resources.
• A cancellation period for individual sessions and the contract as a whole.

Cancellations had to be in writing (time-stamped email)

• payment conditions
• travel money
• equipment I needed on premises

I also had a couple of related things I could do during known quiet times of the year. Would getting TEFL certification and doing language Summer camps/ other educational camps be an option for you?

@Dogswimmingcompetition its unreasonable to expect pay for work you don’t perform. I wouldn’t pay (and don’t pay my kids tutor) during the holiday. You need to adjust your hourly rate to account for the families that won’t use you during the summer

You aren’t entitled to be paid. I wouldn’t be paying for a service I did not want or use. You can tell them you will be looking for other clients but realistically very few people are going to want a tutor over the summer. Harsh but this is poor planning by you.

If you want to keep certain families as ongoing customers then surely you need to have contracts in place clearly outlining your services and their payment responsibilities……….unless, of course you’re tutoring ‘on the side’ and NOT declaring the income in which case…………you should be

Perhaps sort out your bullet points before you get arsy with others about punctuation.

When we lived overseas I used to bring the DC back to UK for 2 months every summer during the long school break. I would pay my DD's violin tutor a retainer fee during our absence because I did not want to lose him (he was very good) but I can't remember whether this was the full amount or a reduced rate as he wasn't actually having to come to the house & teach her

But this is exactly why you need a contract that says you are paid every week of term time or 52 weeks of the year otherwise your cash flow is dependent on the whim of a small child!

The alternative is that your term-time rate reflects the need for enough income to carry you over the summer.

Reminds me of the thread last week when the IP got berated for having a moan for being charged nursery fees on a bank holiday when they are closed. Why should the parents pay you from their income just because they can likely afford to? Get a summer job or sort your business model out!!